840.48 Refugees/4009
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Long) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: The rescue of European Jewry was a subject of the Bermuda Conference. The fate of Jews as such was not considered separately from the fate of other persons who are persecuted because of religious, racial or political sentiments, but the Jews constitute the larger proportion of them and the Conference considered their situation in Europe as well as efforts to extricate them.
It was considered that we could not negotiate with the Government of Germany on any account during the war so that the Jews within [Page 320] the jurisdiction of the German military authorities could not be helped unless they should escape from that jurisdiction.
Escape has been made by six or eight thousand of them into Spain across the Pyrenees. The Bermuda Conference recommended that steps be taken to move them from Spain so that others might be moved into Spain from France who would in turn be extricated.
The agency to do this work was to be the Executive Committee of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. Without waiting for that Committee to commence operations the United States Government in collaboration with the French authorities in North Africa and the British Maritime authorities agreed to the movement of refugees out of Spain. This movement is proceeding gradually and some three thousand have already been moved into Africa. Many of the Jews are of French nationality and have been moved into Africa, but the stateless Jews and Jews of enemy nationality have not yet been moved. However, the pressure upon them by the Spanish Government has been alleviated by reason of the fact that the Spanish Government realizes there is being made a serious effort to move all the refugees in its jurisdiction to other places.
We have recently sent to London a memorandum of the conversation had by Mr. Myron Taylor with the British Ambassador on the subject of getting in operation the Executive Committee of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. A copy of the telegram is attached.87
There has not yet been located a place for permanent refuge. The word “permanent” means for the duration of the war. The Mediterranean is not yet open for passage East, and shipping is not available because of the demands of the military authorities.
At the suggestion of the Bermuda Conference we agreed to move 4500 children and 500 elders out of Bulgaria by ship or through Turkey to Palestine where England agreed to make visas available. We agreed with England to pay half of the costs and we actually set aside $300,000 out of which was to be paid the American share. The Turkish Government refused to permit them to transit Turkey by land along the line of the railroad and stated that their people looked upon them as Bulgars irrespective of their religion and would not permit it. An effort was then made to charter two vessels and it looked as if the charter had been arranged. We instructed the American Ambassador at Ankara to render all possible assistance. The British Government undertook to arrange the charter of Rumanian vessels using Turkey as an intermediary. The negotiations conducted by the Turkish Government fell through. Turkey agreed to permit them to traverse Turkish territory as far as Istanbul and to be there loaded, but the Rumanian Government withheld the vessels and the Bulgarian Government [Page 321] subsequently closed its frontiers and transferred these persons to the interior of Bulgaria.
The United States and British Governments have not yet come to an agreement on the question of the Intergovernmental Committee though every effort has been made by the Department to arrive at an agreement.
You will recall the President discussed the matter with the Prime Minister of Great Britain and has been awaiting information from him, which as far as we are advised has not been received.
The question of the rescue of persons outside the jurisdiction of Germany is one thing. There are very few Jews in places of probable danger such as their precarious position in Spain. All the other Jews who need help are within the confines of Germany or occupied territory but there is no help that we can give them short of military destruction of German armies and the liberation of all the oppressed peoples under its jurisdiction. We are bending every effort in that direction. It is quite improbable that Germany would permit the departure of Jews even if we could bring ourselves to the point of negotiating with the enemy during the course of the conflict.